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Blessed are the merciful
Pastor Tony Chakkunga
South Peace News
“Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.” (Matthew 5:7)
This is one of the beatitudes from the Sermon of the Mount. To be merciful is the basic quality of the Christians because we experience mercy of God in our daily life. We are merciful when we hold ourselves back from punishing or causing suffering to someone, when we have the right and power to punish. It is compassion for the undeserving and the guilty.
There are many stories in the Bible about mercy and forgiveness to others. Through jealousy, the brothers sold Joseph into slavery, convincing his father that he had been devoured by wild beasts.
Later, Joseph, through his faithfulness to God and his masters, rose in position in Egypt. He was only second in power to the Pharaoh himself. Famine drove the unsuspecting brothers to Egypt to buy food. We read the incredible story of Joseph recognizing his brothers, his compassionate dealing with them and how he got his whole family moved to Egypt to save them from famine. When they deserved punishment for their inhuman behaviour, Joseph showed mercy and loving kindness.
“Don’t be afraid,” Joseph told the guilty brothers. “I can’t put myself in the place of God. You plotted evil against me, but God turned it into good in order to preserve the lives of many people who are alive today because of what happened. You have nothing to fear. I will take care of you and your children.” (Genesis 50:19-21)
What a wonderful mercy Joseph had shown!
It is a good and great lesson for all of us. Are we prompted to be merciful to those who have hurt, wronged us, done cruel things to us, and cheated us financially? If we are submissive and loyal to God, we could see behind the evil and the unkindness, God’s love working for our good and His glory.
We have also a different story in the rich young man who went away sad, when Jesus told him, “Go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor and you will have riches in heaven and then come and follow me.” (Matthew 19:22). He was unwilling to show mercy to others even when opportunity was given, because of his selfishness and greed. Jesus knew that one of the tests of our loyalty to God is our willingness to share with others.
Throughout the Gospels, we read instances when Jesus showed his compassion and kindness to the poor, to the sick and to the handicapped. Christianity is a coming to Christ, that is an inflowing of living water.
It is also a reaching toward others; that is out coming. It is to be shared in love, kindness and compassion with others. A body of water, which has an inlet but no outlet, becomes stagnant. As Christians, if our experience, our emotions, our joy, our faith are not shared with others, our Christianity will remain stagnant, not flowing.
“Defend the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and needy.” (Psalms 82:3)
“If you refuse to listen to the cry of the poor, your own cry for help will not be heard.” (Proverbs 21:13).
“Give to others and God will give to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you,” said Jesus. (Luke 6:38)
Here, Jesus emphasizes the fact we should remain unblocked channels through which His mercy and His love flow out to others. When Jesus talked about the Final Judgment he said, Come you that are blessed by my Father and possess the kingdom prepared for you ever since the creation of the world. I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me drink, stranger and you received me in your homes. Naked and you clothed me, sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me.” (Matthew 25:34-36)
The pursuit of wealth is diametrically opposed to the pursuit of the Kingdom of God. That is why Jesus said, “It is much harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.” (Mark 10:25).
In other words, it would take a miracle to get the rich into the Kingdom of God.
And the miracle would not be getting them in with their wealth. The miracle would be getting them to give up their wealth so that they could enter a kingdom of the poor. This is what Jesus asked the rich young man in Mark 21:22). If we do not practice this effectively in everyday life, it would mean that we do not know Christ who spoke the beatitude and about the final judgment.
Mercy, kindness and compassion come from the hearts of men. Only individuals can feel mercy on others and extend a helping hand. Individuals like Mother Teresa not only organize the channels but also execute the Word of God most practically believing in Jesus’ words.
“Whenever you did this for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.” (Matthew 25:40)
Humanity needs comfort in its sorrow, light in its darkness, peace in its disquiet, rest in weariness and healing in sickness. What are some of the areas toward which we can show mercy?
As members of a neighborhood, we can show mercy by caring for the needs of others. Who are they? Let us start with those closest to us, my husband, wife, child, parent, brother, sister, the person next house, a person or family known to us, someone who approaches us for help ... sometimes some are concerned with poor around the world ignoring the needs of those closest to them.
We also cannot ignore the needs of our fellowmen on a worldwide scale, especially in emergencies like tsunami or earthquakes. There are a thousand little ways we can be merciful in our daily lives.
Physical poverty is more visible and apparent to us. We are even touched by pictures of those who are starving or who live on footpaths under unhygienic conditions.
But there are some who may be well off but suffering from spiritual poverty. This may be much more difficult to see. We can be merciful to them as we are to the poor and the suffering. Their failures to do what they ought to do prove there is something wrong somewhere. It is due to the spiritual poverty caused by greed, selfishness, prejudice, suffering, hatred, envy that stem from the heart and because of the lack of humility, faith and prayer.
We may not be able to do miracles but there may be occasions when our examples, our consoling words and our prayers, may be helpful. They may strengthen their mind to gain normalcy and lead a good life. Let us ask for God’s grace to become more kind and merciful to others.
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